The Life and Love of Gwenevere Gossamer
by SonicPotter
Summary: Gwen is a Hufflepuff in her fourth year, the same year as Harry Potter. Things are exciting enough before the year has even begun, but what will happen when her long time crush, George Weasley, suddenly starts taking more interest in her than ever before?


It was a crisp, clear morning on the 23rd of August, birds tweeting through the slightly ajar window, a few of summers last rays shone through a crack in the curtains and onto the sleeping face of one young girl. It was your general fairytale scene, except a fairytale was not what was happening inside the girls head, as her face screwed up into a frown and she sat bolt upright in bed, her blonde hair flying everywhere, highly ruining the moment. She was breathing heavily, and sat there for a few seconds, staring at the wall opposite, before she blinked and ran her fingers through her hair, twiddling it absent-mindedly. _**Just a bad dream**_she thought, shaking her head and flopping back into the comfort of her bed, savouring these few moments she had before-

'Gwen! Gwenevere! Wake up, honey-bunch or you'll be late!' She sighed at the fond nickname and threw the covers off of her, plodding towards the bedroom door. It was very old to look at, as if it was made of a few planks and some thin strips of metal, but if you knocked on it it was like knocking on a brick wall but less painful. She pulled it open and breathed in the fresh air of the outside world. _[Oh, sorry, were you expecting a corridor or maybe some stairs? Well let's just say this house is a little ... different to something you might find on your local high street. This, again, is a little odd seeing as that's exactly where it is. Not your high street, obviously. Unless, of course, you live next door and in that case you have no idea that you do. You see this five story building which looks, to the right person, like it should have fallen down about now. The right person being a witch or wizard, obviously, seeing as this make-shift house was owned by a lovely witch and wizard and to muggles looks like the house next door. Which, for that house, is quite annoying, seeing as whenever they paint their lovely three-story town house home to be individual, and it takes two weeks, the house next door manages it in one night. Anyway, the door that dear Gwen just opened is, indeed, her bedroom door, the door to her bedroom. But only from the outside. From the inside, it leads to a small garden, just big enough for a person to lie down in, edged with daisies, foxgloves and violets. No bars, no barriers, nothing to stop you falling over the edge and plummeting a very long way down, just some flowers. Of course, Gwen isn't stupid, and so she doesn't fall over the edge, because that's what a stupid person would do. She sits cross legged and sketches, or lies on her back in the sun and thinks, wondering if this time her pale skin might burn or even just tan. Which it doesn't, much to her annoyance. If you really and actually want to leave the room, (and not just walk off the edge of a building), then you ought to look very closely at a swirly rug in the shape of a flower in the middle of the room, which creaks when you walk over it. If you look very, very closely, you'll notice the wooden edge that pokes out the sides. This, after further inspection, will turn out to be a trapdoor which leans to the landing, via a ladder like you might find attached to a tree house. I presume you'd quite like to get back to the story now? Oh good, then I shan't bother you again.] _She stepped out onto the cool grass, which tickled her feet in a nice sort of way. It was good to feel the earth beneath your feet, even if that earth wasn't on the ground. She sighed again as her name was called once more, this time with the added horror of the middle name, (Gladys, it always made her shudder. Gwenevere Gladys Gossamer, the infernal alliteration that was her name), so she stumbled back inside and hauled open the trapdoor, clambering down the ladder and the four stair cases to where her mother was waiting patiently with a plate of bacon and eggs. Gwen grinned and sat expectantly and the wooden kitchen table, grabbing the knife and fork and looking hopeful. Her mother laughed, placing the plate in front of her daughter and kissing her head. As Gwen began shovelling food into her mouth, her mum stood behind her a moment, playing with the thin strands of shoulder length hair thoughtfully. She sighed.

'You should keep it this length, it looks pretty on you' she said, as Gwen made a face at her momentarily, before continuing to eat in a disgusting manner. Her mother rolled her eyes, 'but I know, I know, you want it short, I understand. I'll cut it once you've finished eating,' she moved back around the table and picked up her cup of coffee, 'I've no idea when you're supposed to get to the burrow. I would Molly was sending an owl' she added to herself glancing out of the window. A loud hoot was heard, causing both girls to jump and Gwen to stop eating, as a scruffy looking owl flew into the window. It was lucky it had come the back way this time. Errol had caused quite a stir last time, as it wasn't customary for an owl to fly through Wellington high street. The back way was easier, seeing as the back of the house was in a different place to the front end of the house, but that's too complicated to get into. The garden that the neighbours saw was an overgrown jungle. The garden that Gwen had played in since birth was a large open, green wonderland. Beyond that were the endless fields of the countryside. Some people found it quite confusing. Caroline Gossamer opened the window for the confused bird, and he hopped back up onto the sill. She sighed, whilst Gwen giggled in the background, and took the letters from the poor thing, feeding it a treat. She turned back to the table and sat down, beginning to sort through the three letters in front of her.

'Right, one for me from Molly and two for you' she said, sliding the envelopes across the table as she opened her own. Gwen gulped down her last mouthful of bacon and picked up the first letter. Both had very neat handwriting, so neither was from one of the boys. She slit open the one in her hand and began to read.

_Dear Gwen,_

_Hey, I hope this gets to you in one piece, as Errol has recently become more erratic than normal and so letters tend to get half destroyed before we get them. It's a little annoying, but seeing as most of them aren't for me, I'm not too bothered. I hope you had a good summer, mine was pretty great, although mum had us tidying for most of it but I managed o escape sometimes so that was fine. We will obviously talk more in person, which you shall not get out of! Hermione got here earlier this week and Harry should be getting here later today, after you. Oh yeah, about that, mum said that anytime between eleven and one should be fine, but she's got some stuff to sort out or something so after one would be difficult. _

_Can't wait to see you and give you the biggest hug ever,_

_Ginny x_

Gwen smiled at the letter and read it through once more to make sure she hadn't missed anything then carefully smoothed it out and laid it next to her plate, before picking up the next envelope.

_Dear Gwen,_

_I hope your well, as I hear there's been a nasty outbreak of flu in your area and it would be horrible if you got ill when you're meant to be coming to the burrow today! Ginny says she's covering the details of getting here and whatnot in her letter, so I won't bore you by going through it again. But just in case, between eleven and one via the floo network, ok? You'll b sharing a room with me and Ginny, so we can have a good chat and a catch up when you get here! Oh, and George told me to say hi too, so that's from him. I really think he's getting to like you, Gwen! That would be so perfect, you've been saying how upsetting the whole thing was, this would just be wonderful! You two would make the cutest couple. Have you told Ginny you like him yet? I think you should, and I have told a soul, I promise! Anyway, we'll talk more when you get here._

_See you soon,_

_Hermione x_

Gwen couldn't help childishly grinning at the part about George in Hermione's letter, and she felt her cheeks turn a faint pink. Gwen had liked George more than a friend for three years now. It hadn't been love at first sight, because life is not a fairytale, it had been love after a while of knowing him. This was excellent news! And she was going to the Quidditch World Cup with him now? This _was_ perfect, Hermione was right. She happily folded that letter back up and grabbed the first, presenting it to her mother.

'Mum, Ginny says to be at the Burrow between eleven and one, so you need to cut my hair!' she said, waving the paper in front of her face. Caroline smiled, taking it from her and putting it back on the table.

'Yes, i know, Molly said that too,' she said, gesturing at her own letter, 'so let's get that hair cut off!' Gwen rolled her eyes as she followed her mum across to the lounge and sat on the stool that was presented to her. 'Don't say it like that, it sounds like you're going to shave my head! I just want what the muggles call a 'pixie cut'. Honestly, why do they think pixies have certain haircuts? It's stupid!' Caroline chuckled fondly at her daughter and began to snip and style for the next five minutes. When she was done, she fluffed it a bit with her hands and produced a hand mirror, pulling Gwen over t the one on the wall. 'Well?' she enquired, 'What do you think?' The smile on Gwen's face was a good enough answer. She grinned happily at her pale blond hair, which was now very short at the back and layered, with a longish side fringe that swept to one side. She threw her arms around her mum's neck and dashed back upstairs to get dressed and fetch her trunk.


End file.
